The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis (BGCSTL) and The Noir Bookshop collaborated on a novel idea to give youth greater access to books.
The partners unveiled the new ONYX public book vending machine at BGC Herbert Hoover Club at 2901 N. Grand Boulevard on April 5, 2024 with BGCSTL participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Club members demonstrated how ONYX works by choosing their book from the machine.
“Studies prove reading helps youth think critically, improves comprehension, increases confidence, and contributes to academic success. Academic success is one of our priority outcomes,” said Flint Fowler, BGCSTL president.
When expressing the importance of books and reading, BGC Herbert Hoover Club member young reader Jessie Jones said, “I feel like it helps me with basic stuff in life. Like it can help me get a job or, like, graduate from school.”
“I feel like I would be nothing without reading books. It helps me write.”
The Noir Bookshop owner and ONYX inspiration Ymani Wince said “There has been a lot of talk about reading disparities in Black and brown communities. I wanted to do something to bridge the gap in areas hit hard by literacy inequalities.”
The ONYX vending book machine holds 300 books provided by The Noir Bookshop. Club members receive tokens to select a book of choice, which is free.
The machine contains books from familiar authors such as Judy Blume and Dr. Seuss. There is a book for youth of any age, including ‘Learning Your ABCs’, reading about the first Black female U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, and reading a novel like Hunger Games.
“I also wanted children in our community to start building their own library,” said Wince.
“I wanted to provide a book vending machine at a place with a high volume of youth, where they are safe, where people can enroll their kids and know that they have access to adults who care, quality opportunities, development, structure, and access to free books that 100% belong to them. Once they choose a book, it belongs to them.”
Fowler said his organization is “delighted about this partnership, which we think will positively impact our children and help them improve their reading skills.”
Wince added, “This machine is for the kids at Herbert Hoover. Now is a good time to enroll your children at the Club, where they can access this machine and quality programs led by caring adults.”
The push to improve literacy
The St. Louis Public Schools district recently launched its ‘Literacy for The Lou’ initiative, which includes getting books into the hands of young people throughout the city and region.
SLPS and Nine PBS celebrated a partnership that is bringing 36,000 books to children during the 2023-24 school year on April 5.
Among the books delivered were locally made comic books called “Drawn In.” Created with the help of Lion Forge Animation, the team behind the Oscar-winning “Hair Love,” “Drawn In” offers animated videos, print and digital comic books, and fun educational games—all available on a special website.
“This partnership with Nine PBS and the Drawn In series shows how much our community cares about helping our youngest learners love reading,” said Dr. Keisha Scarlett, SLPS superintendent.
“By adding these exciting stories to our ‘Literacy for the Lou’ campaign, we’re making reading fun and improving our students’ skills at the same time.”
The final book delivery of the school year included “Drawn In Issue #8: The Best Chef” and some mental wellness magnets, showing how much SLPS cares about the whole well-being of its students. Every pre-K through 3rd-grade student in the district will receive a book and a magnet.
In addition, the city NAACP chapter recently launched its “Right to Read” campaign.
Its goal is for students to meet or exceed the overall state average by 2030.
SLPS students have a reading proficiency score of 19% compared to a 45% statewide average, according to the National Center for Education Statistics annual report card.
According to the NCES, only three in 10 Missouri students demonstrate reading proficiency at a fourth-grade level. Only one in 10 African American students reach the reading proficiency level.
